


You Don't Drown By Falling In

by closedcaptioning



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 12:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19376698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closedcaptioning/pseuds/closedcaptioning
Summary: You drown by staying under.“Don’t pretend with me, Kabuto. Please. I’ve noticed the way you watch the boy.” Orochimaru shrugged, casual. “Like you want to taste him.”





	You Don't Drown By Falling In

Kabuto had known for a while that something was different. It began with little things: the way he suddenly noticed the hollow of Sasuke’s collarbone, the way his eyes were drawn to him when he entered the room. This silent one–sided watching could not go on forever, he knew, but the first time he made any kind of move, it was in a less–than–ideal way. 

 

It was right after a mission. Sasuke was lying on Kabuto’s operating table, and the medic–nin was checking him over and healing his injuries. This had become routine for the two of them, so as Kabuto pressed his chakra into a particularly deep gash on Sasuke’s chest, he allowed his eyes to wander upwards.

 

As if sensing his gaze, Sasuke opened his eyes. Kabuto didn’t look away; he just continued to probe the wound, watching the flicker of the dim light of his chakra across Sasuke’s face.

 

Slowly, the Uchiha pushed himself to a seated position. Kabuto didn’t move back; he kept his hands pressed to Sasuke’s chest, feeling flesh knit itself together beneath his fingers.

 

Sasuke’s face was close enough Kabuto could feel his breath ghosting against his cheek. 

 

“Kabuto,” he said quietly, “What do you think you’re doing?”

 

Kabuto was suddenly aware of the beating of his heart. “My job, Sasuke.” He didn’t ask the boy to lie back down; instead, he slid his hands down Sasuke’s chest, not breaking eye contact.

 

Sasuke didn’t blink, didn’t shift beneath Kabuto’s touch. “Kabuto,” he said again, slowly, “What, exactly, do you think you’re doing?”

 

Kabuto’s hands paused. “What are you asking, Uchiha?” His voice was smooth.

 

Sasuke leaned even closer, until his lips were brushing Kabuto’s ear. “Get the fuck off me,” he whispered, and Kabuto felt the cold pulse of a blade right below his Adam’s apple. He took in a slow, easy breath, and stepped back.

 

Sasuke was watching him impassively, as if he hadn’t just threatened his life. Carefully and deliberately, he sheathed his knife. 

 

Kabuto said nothing, only allowed his lips to curl up a little in a small smile, and Sasuke vanished.

  
**  


Kabuto was idly watching Sasuke train. He noted, detachedly, the way the boy’s shoulder blades rippled with muscle, the angle at which he considered his opponent, slow and careful. A perfect machine. 

 

“Beautiful, eh?” This from Orochimaru. Kabuto managed not to flinch. He hadn’t even noticed his approach.

 

“Sir?” Kabuto’s expression was intentionally blank. Orochimaru laughed, a horrid cackling rasp.

 

“Don’t pretend with me, Kabuto. Please. I’ve noticed the way you watch the boy.” Orochimaru shrugged casually. “Like you want to taste him.”

 

Kabuto had to fight down the sudden wave of revulsion that crashed through him at the man’s tone of voice. He struggled to keep his tone neutral. “I am no threat to your claim on the boy, Orochimaru.”

 

Again, the low, hissing laugh. “Of course. I trust you, Kabuto.” The two of them observed Sasuke in silence for a few moments. “And I trust you understand that he must be untouched.”

 

Kabuto understood a threat when he heard one. “Yes, Orochimaru.”  _ He would never let me get close enough to touch him in the first place. _

 

“Excellent.” Orochimaru’s gaze lingered on Sasuke for another moment, and then he turned and vanished into the shadows. Kabuto stood a moment longer, and then followed Orochimaru. 

  
**  


Kabuto knew Sasuke had left people behind. He could hear the Uchiha pacing the halls at night, restless. Kabuto could imagine the carnage easily; he’d seen it time and again in his line of work. 

 

Some nights he imagined opening the door, hooking his fingers into Sasuke’s collar, forcing him to halt. His imagination could travel further, too ( _ his fingers in Sasuke’s hair, the heat of his mouth, the rise and fall of his bare chest _ ) but Kabuto knew such fantasies were irrational. There was no use dwelling on something that would never happen. His loyalty to Orochimaru was absolute.

 

Besides, Kabuto could still remember the hatred in Sasuke’s eyes, the press of his blade against his throat. He was not so utterly bound to his emotions as to be willing to throw his life away.

 

It was late at night. Kabuto was returning from his lab, mulling over the day’s results and shuffling through a sheaf of papers when he was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown against the wall.

 

All the breath left his body, and the papers were scattered across the floor. Kabuto could barely see the silhouette of his attacker – it was dark, and his glasses were somewhere on the ground – but as soon as the shadowy figure opened his mouth, he knew who it was.

 

“What have you been saying to Orochimaru?” The question was a growl, and Kabuto bit back a smile. He’d seen Sasuke lose his temper; he knew which buttons to push to make him red in the face, to make his fingers close into fists. He delighted in the knowledge that it was  _ him _ , this time, who was leading him to the edge.

 

“I have told him all he needs to know, as his valuable second–in–command.” Kabuto could  _ hear _ Sasuke grit his teeth, could picture the frustration on his face, but his smirk vanished when Sasuke dragged him up by the collar and slammed him back down hard enough to rattle his skull. 

 

“You know what I mean,” he spat. “Why would he tell me I need to visit the other medic for my injuries from now on?” He waited long enough to hear Kabuto’s sharp intake of breath. “Does this have to do with the incident the other day, when you –”

 

“Get off me.” Kabuto’s voice was low and rough, and it threw Sasuke off for a moment. Not long, but it was enough time for Kabuto to wriggle out from under Sasuke, grab his glasses and scramble to his feet.

 

He didn’t make it far. Sasuke was much faster than him, and in another moment he had Kabuto pinned up against the wall. “So I was right.” His grin was serpentine. “He doesn’t want you to touch me.”

 

Kabuto knew he was in danger, and in any other situation, he would have a dozen things to say, a hundred polished lines that would rescue him from this conversation. But this wasn’t any other time; this was Sasuke standing close enough that Kabuto could see the treacherous glint in his eyes even without his glasses, close enough that he could feel the heat of his breath, and Kabuto suddenly found his mind at a blank.

 

“How about this.” Sasuke leaned even closer, and Kabuto pressed himself back against the wall in an attempt to distance himself. “You have a talk with Orochimaru. Explain that whatever you thought before, whatever you might have felt, is gone. And I won’t have to be healed by a shitty junior medic. Understand?”

 

Kabuto groped for words, for any last vestiges of his dignity. “And why would I do that?” he managed.

 

Sasuke’s gaze was steady, never wavering. “We resolve whatever issues you have right here and right now.”

 

Kabuto’s eyes went wide. “What?”

 

Sasuke’s brow furrowed. “I think I’ve made myself clear.”

 

Kabuto swallowed hard. “Sasuke –”

 

“Shut up.” And Sasuke’s mouth was against his, kissing him with the heat of a bonfire. Hot coals raked across Kabuto’s body, his hands on Sasuke’s chest, Sasuke’s name twisting up in Kabuto’s throat. Sasuke was kissing him like he was trying to suffocate him, trying to find something in Kabuto that wasn’t there, trying to bury his past in the way he slid his hands into Kabuto’s hair. 

 

Sasuke was the one who pulled away first. Neither of them spoke for a long time, both trying to catch their breath. Kabuto’s glasses had been knocked off again, and he picked them up and polished them on his shirt. Sasuke watched him, and when the glasses were settled back on his nose, he took a deep breath and straightened up. 

 

“So you’ll talk to Orochimaru, and explain.” Kabuto nodded, and Sasuke crossed his arms. “Good. Then I’ll see you after my next mission.”

 

“Right.” Kabuto bit down the ridiculous fluttering in his chest. “Of course.”

 

Sasuke spared him a final, unreadable glance, and vanished into the shadows, leaving Kabuto alone in the dark. He sighed and began to collect the papers he’d dropped. Kabuto normally told Orochimaru everything that might be of concern, but this, he might keep to himself.


End file.
